Working in the hospitality industry can be quite interesting because of the different types of people that we meet on a day to day basis. But, interesting as it is, it can also be challenging as not all people are happy campers.

So here’s my list of the Type of Hotel Guests that we usually meet:

1. Newbies

Newbies are, obviously, new to traveling or staying in a hotel. Usually, these are first timers. Most of them are shy to ask and they are very happy about anything. If they have a complain, they will let it go as long as it’s not drastic and they will even feel shy to complain.

2. Happy Guests

These are the types of guests that are very happy about everything. Rain or shine they are happy. They would understand minor mistakes that staff might do like taking wrong orders of food or mixing up their names on the registration card which is usually a big deal to other types of guests. It’s very easy to make friends with this type of guest and they will most likely come back to your hotel if they feel comfortable with the staff.

3. Moaners

This type of hotel guest just moans about anything. They moan about the weather being too hot or the rain pouring down. They complain about lizards or the chirping of the birds. They are just very hard to please and they take everything negatively. Moaners are the type of guests that hoteliers don’t expect to come back or more accurately what hoteliers don’t wish to come back to their hotels. But most likely, no matter how they complain about things, they will go back and stay at your hotel again.

4. Complaints Creators

These guests are like the moaners except, they moan for a reason: freebies. They want to get free upgrade, free excursion, free meal, free everything. Moaners just like to complain and nothing ever makes them happy. But complaints creators moan and gets happy when they get some freebies.And the point is, sometimes when they have nothing to complain about, they will create something in order to get a freebie.

One example is a South Asian couple who came to our reception to complain about light bulbs that aren’t working in their room and therefore they asked for an upgrade to the highest room category only for us to find out that they removed the bulb by themselves. When the maintenance staff went to the room, they just attached the removed bulb and it was actually working well.

5. Passive

The Passive type of guests are actually the dangerous ones. While at the hotel, they will tell you that everything is ok and that they seem happy and they have nothing to complain about. But once they are back to their country, they will go to the travel agency who booked their hotel to complain about everything that they didn’t like and ask for a refund.

6. Drama Queens / Kings

These types of guests are attention seekers. They make a scene out of the smallest thing that they can complain about even though, it’s not actually a complain. What’s worse is, they will talk to other guests and influence them to complain as well.

Recently, we have an Eastern European lady who was shouting at the reception. They want a refund. They complained about the food, that there was no variety. But earlier on, they said they didn’t like buffet so of course, we served them plated food in their room. They also asked why the lagoon of the island that they are staying in is smaller than that of the sister island?

There was a big ruckus the whole night and she ended up crying, begging us to let them go.

Because she have been creating a chaos and a lot of other guests are getting affected, our team asked them to pack their bags and leave immediately. After that she went to the restaurant with her family to have dinner.

7. Concerned Citizens

The concerned citizens are actually the potential repeat guests. The hotel operation will never be perfect. There will be small mishaps every now and then and it can happen to just any random guest. The concerned citizens will give you a very honest feedback and positive criticisms to further improve your service. They will not complain about it or ask for any compensation.

8. Socially Responsible

We are in the era when people are most aware of the climate change and we now have what we call responsible travelers.  They are very much into the hotel’s sustainability ethos and they even consider this factor before booking the hotel. They have their own reusable straws and bags. They are usually very conscious about the food they eat and most of the times they are vegans or pescatarians.

9. Freebies Collector

Name it and they will have it inside their luggage. Toothpaste, Toothbrush. Slippers. Bathrobes. Hand Towels. Beach Towels. Hair Dryer. Salt and Pepper Shakers. Blanket. Pillow. Mattress. Well, the last one isn’t possible but name everything that will fit into their bags and they will want to take it.

They are probably collecting things or they feel that these things are part of what they paid for that’s why they want to take them all.

The type of hotel guests that I mentioned here are well, not to be taken as ‘official’ type of guests so those who are searching the net for thesis materials, I doubt this is for you.

The above mentioned are the most common type of hotel guests that I have so far seen in my career. There are probably more out there.

But most of all, I am interested to know what type of hotel guest are you?